Chapter 161 - "Four down, four more to go."

                                    

                                          
"You didn't think I'd be prepared for this." He scoffed towards Tyler and Eleanor, "I don't care about these two, they were a nuisance. But," he motioned towards Dante and hissed, "I care about the one you're holding, so put him down before I make you put him down."
"Intense," Draco cackled, only squeezing Dante harder in his grasp. They heard screeching screams from Dante, which made Nate inhale a sharp breath and Lucius heard that, which caused his chest to tighten. "And how are you going to do that?"
"I usually fight fair, but you're basically inhumane." Lucius swiftly brandished a pistol, and before Draco could make sense of it, it was too late. As Lucius shot directly towards his wrist, the bullet passed through. It wasn't the pain that caused Draco to released Dante, but the numbness that instantly spread through his fingers weakened them. Without waiting a second, Lucius raised his pistol to shoot again, and Draco was focused on dodging the bullet that he didn't realize there was a different attack headed his way.
"Take this!" It was at the last second that he noticed Reno's knuckles headed towards his jawline, and it collided perfectly. It didn't make him move at all, but it did cause a sudden sharp pain to travel along his jaw. The hit had been enough strength to cut the inside of his cheek, and Reno beamed when Draco tilted his head to the side to spit blood. "Yes, that's what you get, you monster!"
"Can you stand, D?" Lucius yelled out to his brother, who groaned curses under his breath but eventually pushed himself to his feet. The punch in his stomach from his father had definitely injured him, but he couldn't let the pain get the best of him. This was the only way to ensure that the rest of the made it out of here alive. The adrenaline was definitely invading his body with endorphins since Dante felt no pain as he jogged towards Nate and Lucius the moment he was on his feet.
His eyes widened as he realized Nate was standing beside Lucius, and the moment he reached them, he let himself collapse into Nate's arms. "Holy fuck, I thought you were dead."
Nate squeezed him tighter; after witnessing Lori's death, seeing both Tyler and Eleanor's corpses and the fact that Jake's was gravelly injured and could possibly lose his life, he realized the gravity of this fight. There was no telling if he would live or die, and he needed to prepare himself for the worst. Hence, if this was the last embrace he was ever to give to Dante, he made certain Dante could feel his warmth to the core. 
Reno had approached them as well, kneeling down and planting two fingers against Jules' neck. "There's a pulse but unconscious."
"His wounds are not that severe," Lucius spoke, glancing backwards for a second before returning his gaze on the beaming Draco. "He'll be fine."
"Do we have a plan?" Reno asked, glancing at the others. Dante was clearly hurting but did all he could to keep a straight face. "Where are the rest of our weapons?"
"All has been lost in the fire," Dante explained, shaking his head. "We didn't expect for the base to go up in flames."
"I have a plan," Lucius stepped forward, furrowing his brows as he gripped his pistol even tighter. "You all need to immobilize him, though."
"Don't do it." Lucius heard, as if it had been the wind but he was certain a voice had been attached to it. When he glanced to the others, they were all staring up at Draco who hadn't moved yet; it couldn't have been one of them. Was that Raphael's voice I just heard?
"How the fuck are we supposed to do that and what's your plan?" Nate asked, noticing that Draco had lifted his fists in his fighting stance. It took a second for Lucius to regain his focus as he shook his head. He was certain he had heard his dead partner's voice, but now wasn't the time to lose his mind. However, he had been stuck into space for too long that he didn't realize he had been tightly squeezing the zipper from his parka. Unfortunately, before he could lower his hand, Nate had noticed it and furrowed his brows in confusion.